Cona Theatre

1. Farris Squibb did not like the fact that an outside company - the Lutzer Bros. Theatre Circuit from Dallas - had come to wrest control of Nocona’s film exhibition in about two years. So he decided to establish a locally-owned theatre on Clay Street in the existing C.R. Bailey Building and was dedicated to living in town.

Built in 1939, it was the tiny town of around 2,500’s fourth theatre built in the 1930’s behind the Ritz Theatre, the Roxy Theatre, and the Majestic Theatre turned Nacoma Theatre. The Cona Theatre launched on January 5, 1940 with Tim McCoy in “The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock” supported by Chapter One of the serial, “The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock” and the musical short, “Readin', Ritin', and Rhythm”.

Squibb closed the movie house within a year but it was reopened by Mr. and Mrs. Clinton Bailey for the next ten years. It was a sub-run, double-feature house focusing on westerns and would largely be open on weekends only.

The Cona Theatre closed under one final operator on September 13, 1952 with William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy in “Hidden Gold” and William Elliot in “The Last Bandit”. The Cona Theatre was the final hardtop theatre ever opened in the city. The final venue launched was the Chief Drive-In Theatre in 1950. The Cona Theatre space / C.R. Bailey Building was repurposed in 1956 for other usage.

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